Amy Pleasant

Like Mother, Like Daughter
acrylic on canvas
30 x 24 in.

She Was Her Mother’s Shadow
acrylic on canvas
30 x 24 in.

She was Her Mother’s Daughter

The roots of these women run deep,
straight through the rocky patch,
past the shiny shale which so easily flakes into pieces,
down to the rich, moist, dark, soil.
The stuff of substance, of sustenance, of that which carried
them from one story to the next.

Simultaneously raising my children and caring for my dying mother brought the role of mothers as primordial influence into sharp focus for me. Several of my last conversations with my mother revolved around her mother and eventually rounded back to her children, all daughters. A mother’s love punctuated the beginning and the ending of life. These paintings from the family album serve as a vehicle for remembrance, redemption and closure.